In the community, there are currently 810 children that have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Community leaders have set up 12 Neighborhood Care Points (NCP’s) in an effort to provide pre-primary education and one balanced meal per day for these children. Each NCP is run by 5 community appointed volunteer caregivers, whose main responsibility is to teach and look after the children from 9am-1pm, Monday through Friday. An average of 45 children attend each NCP daily.

The goal of this project is to renovate each of the 12 NCP’s to ensure proper education and feeding of OVC. the community’s NCP’s have been in operation for 3-4 years, and were built by community members. The buildings require minor repairs such as the replacement of doors and windows. Each NCP is utilized as a classroom as well as a food storage area, for food that is donated by World Food Programme and distributed by local NGO’s such as World Vision, Zondle, and Save the Children. To ensure that an NCP is eligible to receive food donations, they must prove that they are a functional educational and feeding center and can store the food safely. The replacement of broken and faulty doors and windows will ensure that food can be safely stored at each NCP. The completion and patching of walls and ceilings will safeguard the building from rain and sun damage, and will provide an indoor classroom for the children.

Note: This summary was provided by a Peace Corps Volunteer and the community administering this project.